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Eye On Europe: Anything can happen

Eighteen-year-old Victor Hedman may be a top 2009 NHL Entry Draft prospect, but he couldn't get any ice time on Sweden's veteran-laden blueline during the the first match of the LG Hockey Games stop in Stockholm. (Photo by Mark Wilson)
Author: The Hockey News

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Eye On Europe: Anything can happen

Last week the major European leagues took a breather for the season’s third international break, which is kind of like the TV timeouts in NHL games. Annoying to those looking to get back to the action, but giving more exposure to star players.

Before the LG Hockey Games - the third tournament in the Euro Hockey Tour between Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the Czech Republic - kicked off in Stockholm, another final got a lot of attention in Sweden.

The media was interested in the game between KB-65 and Modo Hockey because Swedish-born former NHLer and Hart Trophy winner Peter Forsberg played his first public game in a year – in preparation for his first Elitserien game Wednesday – with the district championship on the line.

Not all of the 23 local districts in Sweden attend the tournament, but it’s a good old-fashioned cup style where the lower division teams battle it out to meet the district giant, Modo, Swedish champion 2007 and the alma mater of dozens of NHLers.

KB-65, a Division I team – two tiers below Elitserien – from Bjasta, just outside Ornskoldsvik, beat the Division II team ÖSK HK in overtime, then clinched a spot in the final by beating another Division II team, Kramfors, 6-3.

As the only Elitserien team in the district, Modo has been awarded a spot in the final since 2001 and the club has won the title 41 times.

To make it interesting, there was a handicap. For once, the game didn’t start 0-0, but instead KB-65 was given a 6-0 lead, three goals for each tier separating the teams. Modo beat KB-65 7-1, so the handicapped game ended 7-7 and went into overtime.

KB-65’s 21-year-old Marcus Edlund grabbed his 15 minutes of fame by faking a shot, which sent Modo goaltender Mike Morrison to the ice and allowed Edlund to put the puck in the net on a wraparound, to the enjoyment of the capacity crowd of 1,056 (the rest was standing room only).

THE NO. 1 HOCKEY NATION IN THE WORLD?
According to a survey by the Finnish Broadcasting Company last summer, 29 percent of Finns consider winning the World Championship of Hockey as the most valuable sports accomplishment. It was followed by winning an Olympic gold medal, which 26 percent of the people surveyed said was the greatest accomplishment.

In fact, 60 percent of 18- to 24-year-old Finns consider the World Championship of Hockey the biggest event you can win in sports, according to the same study.

This week, the results of another survey were announced and hockey topped the list again.

This time, 4,000 Finns aged 15 to 79 were asked to rate different sports on a scale from four to 10 – a classic Finnish school grading scale – based to the general image they held of the sport. Hockey averaged 7.89, leaving Formula 1 racing, ski jumping, athletics, downhill skiing, soccer, and figure skating to eat the ice chips.

“I CAN’T GET NO RESPECT”
Former NHL coach, Team Finland head coach, theater executive, broadcasting analyst and best-selling author Alpo Suhonen returned to coaching last season when he took over Assat Pori in the Finnish SM-Liiga. Suhonen is not one to mince words, as he quickly recognized the poor state of the team and began his clean-up operation.

While Assat has improved its record from last season’s dismal 10-38-8 to 17-24-7 this season and is still vying for a playoff spot, many other things have not pleased Suhonen.

In October, he was fined 2,500 Euros (US$3,200) after he criticized the officiating in the league and a couple of weeks ago, Suhonen was fined again, this time 5,000 Euros, for accusing Karpat coach Matti Alatalo of sending a player out to hurt an Assat player and for telling Alatalo to “stop smiling like a frigging Buddha” in the post-game press conference.

“The point is that the league executives won’t take a stand against violence and deliberate attempts to injure other players,” Suhonen said. “The talk and the fines are just smoke and mirrors.

“Our player was hit in the head with a stick, he got a concussion, but I’m the criminal here?” he added. “I don’t approve the fine at all”

Suhonen hired a lawyer to see whether the SM-Liiga has a right to fine individuals and a private citizen reporter made an inquiry to the chancellor of justice in Finland to see whether the fines were unconstitutional or restricted freedom of speech – even though league fines are always given to the clubs who have agreed to the system.

The chancellor will give his statement later in the spring.

HOME SWEDE HOME
Team Sweden head coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson faced heavy criticism in the media the week before the LG Hockey Games in Stockholm. Six days, and three wins – over Russia (4-3), the Czech Republic (6-4), and Finland (4-0) – later, Gustafsson sits safe again.

Each of the four nations participating in the Euro Hockey Tour naturally focus most on its home tournament and Sweden was no exception.

Gustafsson picked the best team available in Europe, including goaltender Johan Holmqvist who returned to Sweden from the NHL this season, and Marcus Ragnarsson, 37, who made a Team Sweden comeback after a four-year absence and three seasons in the Allsvenskan, the league below Elitserien.

This season, Ragnarsson is back in Elitserien, where he averages more than 36 minutes a game on the Djurgården blueline, which is most in the league.

In fact, Gustafsson relied on experience in defense this time around. In their first game against Russia, Dick Tärnström, 34, was the youngest defenseman on the ice, while Victor Hedman, 18, observed the game from the bench.

Russia has already secured the Euro Hockey Tour victory with one tournament left to play in the Czech Republic in April.

Eye on Europe will be featured on THN.com every Friday. Risto Pakarinen is a Finnish freelance writer, based in Stockholm, Sweden who also writes for NHL.com and IIHF.com. When not writing about European hockey on THN, he's probably writing about hockey at ristopakarinen.com/hockey as Puckarinen.

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Cal Clutterbuck’s five-year extension won’t bite the Islanders for a couple of seasons, but when it does, it could cost the Islanders more than just money and cap flexibility.

Cal Clutterbuck is on pace to have his highest scoring season as a New York Islander, he’s averaging more ice time than he has in any other year with the club and he was given an alternate captaincy ahead of the campaign.

And even with all that, it’s hard to understand how exactly the Islanders saw fit to have the 29-year-old winger a five-year, $17.5-million extension.

Clutterbuck is undoubtedly one of the best at playing the specific role he plays, which is to say that if you’re looking for a hard-nosed player who’s going to put his body on the line, he’s your guy. Fans love him, teammates assuredly do, too, and he’s exactly the kind of bottom-six player that most GMs around the league would love to have on their team at the right price.

Problem is that it’s really tough to call $3.5 million per season the right price, and that’s exactly what Clutterbuck will be earning come the start of the 2017-18 campaign. That’s roughly the same cap hit as others such as Kyle Turris, Cam Atkinson, Joel Ward and Matt Read will be carrying next season, and that’s only to name a few.

Another worrisome part about the deal is that it’s hard to see how even the biggest fitness freak could maintain their ability to play Clutterbuck’s style into their mid-30s. The wear and tear on Clutterbuck’s body by the time he reaches the back-end of the contract could be substantial. Despite him playing up the lineup right now, he’s better suited to a bottom-six role and definitely will be later in his career. If he loses a step, $3.5 million will be a lot to fork over for a fourth-line winger and it’ll be a deal that’s near impossible to move.

But it goes beyond simply the signing of Clutterbuck, because there has now been a trio of deals handed out by Islanders GM Garth Snow that have been puzzling — and, truthfully, concerning — when it comes to the future of the team.

Ahead of free agency, there was the signing of Casey Cizikas to a five-year, $16.75-million deal. Then came the monster seven-year, $38.5-million contract inked by free agent Andrew Ladd. The Clutterbuck signing is No. 3.

It should be noted that the deals for Clutterbuck, Cizikas and Ladd don’t actually prevent the Islanders from doing all that much in the next two seasons. In fact, as of next season, every single current Islander forward will be locked up to a contract. Come 2018-19, when John Tavares becomes a free agent, the slate is wiped rather clean with the team able to operate with more than $40 million in cap space. Beyond Tavares, the Islanders’ UFAs come 2018-19 will include Josh Bailey, Nikolai Kulemin, Jason Chimera, Mikhail Grabovski and Thomas Hickey.

And $40-plus million can buy you a lot, and certainly it will allow the Islanders to hang on to Tavares, if he chooses to remain with the team. (Not to say he won’t, but a lot can happen between now and July 2018.) All the UFAs, save maybe Bailey and Hickey, will be allowed to head elsewhere, as well. A restricted free agent deal for Brock Nelson could be pricey, but the Islanders should realistically be able to lock him up. As of right now, the Islanders will also be without an NHL goaltender under contract, but there will be stop-gap options available. So, yes, the Islanders should be fine in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

However, things could get dicey after that.

Come 2019-20, the Islanders will watch Travis Hamonic become a UFA, see the end of entry-level deals for Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Joshua Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle and still have more than $12.3 million locked up in Ladd, Cizikas and Clutterbuck. Finding the money to lock up those five players, as well as any others who could be seeking new contracts around that time, will be incredibly difficult.

The cost of those trio of deals goes beyond money and cap space, though, because there’s a serious possibility the Islanders could waste some of the best years of Tavares’ career. If the Islanders can only afford to hang on to the pieces they have without being able to add any veteran or prime-aged players, it gets hard to see how this franchise takes the next step forward, even with Tavares in his prime.

They’ll need a few adds on defense, a few forwards who can contribute and the goaltending situation will need to be figured out. Ilya Sorokin should give Islanders fans hope, but even the best goaltending prospects sometimes don’t pan out in the big league. If the Islanders need to improve in goal when their prospects are hitting their stride, the money spent in the past seven months could very well prevent that from becoming a reality.

It’s big-money, head-scratcher deals like Clutterbuck’s that teams have had to buy their way out of in the past, and it’s scary to think the Islanders could have set themselves up for the same fate three times over. The Islanders' post-season performance was reason for excitement, but now it seems, more than anything, there's cause for concern about what the future could hold.

Holland had been left in Toronto as the Maple Leafs opened a three-game western road trip in late November and has not suited up for the Leafs since Nov. 26. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward was a healthy scratch in 17 of the Leafs first 25 games this season.

In eight games, Holland has one assist and a minus-2 rating while averaging 10:43 in ice time a night. Holland is on a one-year, $1.3 million contract this season, and according to CapFriendly, is owed $881,111 for the remainder of the season.

"Peter is a big, solid centerman with good NHL experience," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in a statement. "We look forward to having him join our team."

Acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in November 2013, the Caledon, Ontario native appeared in 174 games with the Leafs, over parts of four seasons, scoring 25 goals and 63 points.

The 25-year-old also played a role in the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies reaching a seventh game of the conference finals during the 2014 Calder Cup playoffs.

For the Leafs, the move gives general manager Lou Lamoriello another contract spot to work with. Prior to the deal, Toronto had 48 contracts – two shy of the maximum of 50.

Friday’s move gives the Leafs the flexibility to sign goaltender Karri Ramo to a contract for the remainder of the season. The 30-year-old signed a professional tryout with the Marlies on Tuesday and made 33 saves in 3-2 loss to the Utica Comets on Wednesday night.

Since waiving goaltender Jhonas Enroth on Tuesday, and assigning him to the Marlies, the Leafs are looking for a suitable veteran presence behind Frederik Andersen and Ramo could fill the void.

The trade with the Coyotes also gives Lamoriello roster flexibility to activate forward Josh Leivo off non-roster injury reserve. Leivo has yet to play this season due to a lower body injury. The 23-year-old played five games with the Marlies earlier in the season as part of a conditioning assignment, but was deemed not ready to return to NHL action with the Leafs.

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ECHL defenseman Anthony Calabrese is “lucky to be alive” after a “careless, reckless” hit, and Tyler Murovich, who delivered the blow, has been given a 12-game suspension as a first-time offender.

There are few plays scarier than seeing a player hit from behind and sent headfirst into the boards. That kind of play is made that much harder to watch when knowing the severity of the injury suffered.

During an ECHL contest on Nov. 24 between the Norfolk Admirals and Atlanta Gladiators, ECHL veteran Tyler Murovich delivered an incredibly dangerous shove to the back of Anthony Calabrese, a 24-year-old defenseman who’s only 12 games into his ECHL career.

The result of the hit was frightening. Calabrese was left laying face down on the ice, near motionless. The Admirals rearguard would eventually be placed on a stretcher, taken from the ice and transported to hospital.

That may seem harsh to some given that Murovich is a first-time offender, but given the severity of Calabrese’s injury, it actually seems like a somewhat light punishment.

As a result of the hit, Calabrese suffered broken C7 and T1 vertebrae. In simpler terms, he broke both his neck and his back. Oh, and he also punctured his lung. In fact, Calabrese told The Virginian-Pilot’s Jim Hodges that doctors told the young center that he’s “lucky to be alive.”

“It was a miracle, and they say I’m going to make a full recovery,” Calabrese told Hodges. “It’s going to be a long road, but I’d rather be alive than be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.”

What helped Calabrese escape with his life, he told Hodges, was advice he had gotten early in his career from a high school coach. Calabrese was taught that if he was ever going into the boards head first to lift his chin and turn to the side in an attempt to avoid taking the brunt of the impact with the top of his head.

“That’s honestly the only thing that registered in my mind when I was going in: at the last minute, pick my head up,” Calabrese told Hodges. “I remember picking my head up and turning it to the right.”

Thankfully, doctors told Calabrese that he can eventually return to the ice and that the injuries suffered from the hit won’t cost him his career. His spinal cord, he told Hodges, wasn’t damaged due to the hit. And, as hard as it may be to believe, doctors said it was the “best possible break” in a situation such as Calabrese’s.

John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

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John Tavares scores with a move no one had ever done before

The New York Islanders captain undressed Jay Bouwmeester in the most unusual of ways, but the important thing is he kept the puck. Then he buried it

John Tavares: good at hockey.

The New York Islanders captain pulled off an absolutely stunning series of moves last night, culminating in a laser-shot goal against St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen. But let's get back to his humbling of Olympic gold medallist Jay Bouwmeester, because that's where the real magic happened.

Witness, as Tavares puts his stick behind his back and grabs it with his other hand while still skating and fending off Bouwmeester. Then, since he is a patient boy, Tavares waits and waits and waits before firing one top corner on Allen:

As the soccer folks would say, lovely. New York would go on to beat the Blues 3-2, with Anders Lee scoring the other two goals for the Isles. After struggling to begin the season, New York is now 6-2-2 in its past 10 games. Tavares leads the squad with 21 points through 26 contests.